Steffen Peters and Rosamunde win the Grand Prix at the Festival of the Horse CDI (Photo: Terri Miller)

San Juan Capistrano, CA - A second consecutive week of outstanding dressage competition with a record number of CDI entries got underway Thursday at the Rancho Mission Viejo Riding Park in San Juan Capistrano, Cal. during California Dreaming Productions' Festival of the Horse CDI 3*/Y/J/U-25 as U.S. Dressage Team veterans Steffen Peters and Guenter Seidel took turns leading the day's victory rounds. With Legolas 92 now officially qualified for the Reem Acra FEI World Cup Dressage Final thanks to winning performances at last week's Capistrano Dressage International CDI-W, it was time for Steffen Peters' young superstar Rosamunde (2007 Rheinlander mare [Rock Forever x First Lady by Fidermark], owned by Four Winds Farm) to take center stage.

Despite a small mistake in the two-tempis, the test included what CDP Live commentator Axel Steiner (FEI 5* ret.) described to the thousands of viewers watching online via live video streaming as "some very special moments. Just feast your eyes on this - that's what it's supposed to look like. What a horse this is. Obviously I'm a big fan."

Rosie's effort earned a mark of 73.780% which was more than enough for the unanimous win under all five judges ahead of Guenter Seidel who earned 69.480% with James and Charlotte Mashburn's KWPN gelding Zero Gravity [Royal Hit x Naica by Contango]), including top marks from Gary Rockwell (5* USA). "She's got a wonderful temperament and is a very elastic horse, so she and Steffen make for a very flowing, harmonious presentation," Rockwell noted. "There are even more points available in there as she continues to develop, and I think the future is more than bright. I'm anxious to see it."

"There were some things that were already better than last week, including the pirouettes and transitions between piaffe and passage," said Peters after the awards ceremony. "She's so eager to work that she can sometimes even try too hard, but there's no sign of tiredness or stress from showing two weeks in a row. Tomorrow we'll take a nice walk in the park in the snaffle, and we look forward to Saturday and debuting her freestyle."